Israeli Nanotechnology developed greatly since 2005. In addition to receiving an immense sum of funding (the donation matching model has effectively raised $230 million), and being the number one leader of innovations, Israel was recognized by ISI (the Institute for Science Information) as one of the top 15 countries producing Nanotech related knowledge and techniques, and the number of companies have doubled to a total of 81 in 2007 (compared to 30 companies in 2005).

How to keep up? The unimaginatively-named — but, one must admit, clearly-named — Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative has commissioned a useful Knowledge Portal that maps out the country’s nanotech entities in topic space: large companies, researchers, governmental and nonprofit organizations, and nanotechnology companies in general.

Despite the demo, it is not clear how to generate these maps. To get them, click on the circular graphic next to the category of interest. Then on the map, click on subcategories to get more detailed maps. There is also an index and a search-and-map feature, which can be used to find out, e.g., who in Israel is working on dendrimers.

A handy tool for those trying to interact with nanotech projects in Israel. Making such a mapping system would not be a bad idea for any country or state wishing to lure nanotech R&D, which seems to be just about everyone these days. But gathering the data looks like a lot of work. —Christine